I have not made a post in some time, but we have not been down to the house in over a month so we have not had any new Puerto Pensaco things to talk about. The holidays are tough, and in my business work gets very slow in November and even slower in December. To compound that, the economy in the building industry is in the crapper, so my typical stress is double. But it is now 2009……and hope prevails.
Over the holiday Matt played in the Winter Nationals Baseball tournament for a team called the Gators. They are a 12U team based out of Goodyear. It was a good experience for him with a new team, different coach, and different dugout dynamic. On this team he was a role player and not the go to guy to pitch them into a win or make the big play. When he was in the game I think he played well, and I was very proud of him. In the championship game for 3rd place, he started the game at pitcher. He had a great first inning. He gave up only one run, and struck out one. In the very next inning, a ball was hit right up the middle and glanced off the mobile pitching mound and hit him right in the mouth. It cut the inside of his lip and he was bleeding…..we washed his mouth out with water and when asked what he wanted to do he said, “I want to stay in the game and pitch”. He stayed in, but he was not as good as when he started. He lasted until the middle of the third and they pulled him with the score tied.
They ended up losing the game, 10 to 6. The team ended up in fourth place out of 18 teams
We finally made it down to Mexico on Thursday, January 1st. The weather was good. About 70 to 72 degrees…nice compared to most of the USA. The house was cold. It felt like it was colder in the house then outside. I guess when you have an all concrete house that is what you get. We sat on the patio and enjoyed the warm sun, and with the sun so low in the sky this time of year the house gets a full dose of sunshine as well. My wife hates the cold, and was never out of her warm clothes. We had a great time; we cooked some carne assade on the grille, watched some movies as a family (we do not do that much in Phoenix as with a 17 year old and a 12 year old we all have different taste), and just enjoyed the quiet.
The only issue I had at the house was the water pump. When we first arrive and turned on the pump breaker, the pump started and was making a high pitch whining noise; like metal on metal. As it got going, and water was pumping that sound went away, and only happened when we let the pump sit for more then 8 hours (like over night). There was no place to lubricate the pump or the electric motor so all I can conclude is the pump is not staying primed, or that the bearings are going out. I plan to buy as replacement and take it down with me the next time we go. I will first try re-priming the pump and inspecting the unit. If it still makes the noise, I will have the replacement unit there with me and I will not have to wait for our next trip.
We only went into town one day. I needed a couple things so we stopped at the ACE hardware, and then at a pharmacy where we purchased a new 2009 tide chart calendar. We swung by the port and had ice cream at the Thrifty and then had lunch (backwards I know, but we were on vacation). We tried a place call "La Cocina Ramon". Ok food; I had read about the place in a magazine and thought we would try it. The article said that the owner used to be the cook at the “Port Galley Restaurant”….we had liked the fish there and thought we would give this place a try. Like I said….ok food. I had fish tacos and my son had the fried fish. The two dishes did not have the same type of fish; his was just like the old restaurant….flakey and fresh; mine was dull and not flavorful. One would think you would use the same fish…….live and learn.
We stopped by CEDO (I am not sure what this is an abbreviation for) over in Las Conchas on our way home. I had never been there, and with the weather it sounded like a good thing. Not a lot to look at, but I purchased as great book on beach combing. I had also been curious about fishing for crab in the estuary. One the leaders of the group made a couple calls and confirmed that sport fishing, and fishing for crab was ok as long as I was not catching a whole boat full of crab. We have plans at the end of the month to do some fishing and confirming the rules on crab fishing was a good thing to know.
Saturday night the clouds came in and the ocean turned from blue, to green, to grey as the storm front moved in. Great to see the Arizona Cardinals win on TV. On Sunday we packed up and headed home. When we left the house we did not think about the time or that it was a holiday weekend; that was a mistake. A two hour wait at the boarder was our end of the holiday gift…….but we had a great time.
